First and foremost, Happy New Year everyone! I hope you all are enjoying your time back, whether face to face or virtual, or both! As we entered this new year, it started a little rocky, but it has gone on to be historic (we have a female Vice President)!

At this time, units will be forming nominating committees and looking to find those special people who can do great things in their PTA. Other units are still being creative in their safe events and keeping families engaged, like Cooper PTA's upcoming Road Rally!

It may be a new year, but as a PTA/PTSA our goals are still the same. And as we continue navigating this unusual school year, let us not forget that better days are coming, and hopefully soon we can all celebrate it together!

Stay healthy,

Andrea Malenfant

Council Newsletter Chair

This month's shout out goes to Cooper PTA for having reached and surpassed 100% of their total membership from last year! We know that membership has been a struggle this year, but several units like Cooper have been doing their best to keep parents motivated to join! There are a few other units who are so close to meeting this goal as well so keep up the good work! We know you can do it! Congratulations Cooper PTA!

In this unusual year, we were unsure about how many kids would have the time and mindset to participate in Reflections. We've learned that LPS students are resilient, though! We had a total of 76 students representing 15 schools. Altogether they submitted 98 entries and 54 of those won awards at the district level and have been submitted to the Michigan PTA for the state level judging. We will be recognizing the participants and celebrating the winners in a virtual awards ceremony. Please stay tuned for more information about that. We are proud of the students who participated!

Debbie Yates

Livonia PTSA Council Reflections Chair

After the Founders Day information was sent out to the units in early January there has been a lot of discussion about some units not having anyone to nominate, while others would like to nominate several people because of the special circumstances of the year. At our council meeting last Wednesday we discussed some ideas to alleviate these concerns while keeping the spirit of Founders Day alive.

Please see the document below on the options to celebrate Founders' Day.

Kellie Dummer - kdummer@sbcglobal.net

Founders Day Chairperson

If you haven't already, check your bylaws, because this is the time of year that nominating committees should be getting formed for the election of your 2021-2022 unit board. Members of a nominations committee are crucial for forming the list of potential candidates for your board. The MI PTA released guidance on how to select your nominating committee. You can read it in the form below. If you have questions or need help, please contact your Council liaison.

PEP Update! Since we are unable to host our usual Founder's Day event this year, we made some changes to enable our units to still earn points during this time. Instead of earning points for creating a centerpiece and attending Founder's Day, you can now earn 100 points for inputting your nominees into the Google Doc and another 100 points for uploading your Founder's Day video, all before the end of the day on February 7th.

Don't forget, even if it's past the deadline and your unit is no longer able to earn PEP points, please still submit all changes that have happened in your unit this year. If you amended your bylaws, please submit them via Memberhub. If you updated, amended, created, or changed your Policies and Procedures, still email them to PEP. If you've recently renewed or changed your insurance policy, please upload that information into Memberhub. While the PEP points deadline may have passed for some of these items, it is still extremely important to continue to upload them and notify PEP. If these have not been corrected, uploaded, and submitted, your unit may suddenly find itself no longer in compliance.

2020 may be over, but that doesn't mean you can't continue to earn more PEP points. Keep those scores climbing! There are some easy ways to earn points every month, just remember to CC PEP at PEP@livoniaptsacouncil.org every time. If you would like to view the total rankings for all schools, as well as the individual breakdown each school has credit for, that can now be found on Livonia PTSA Council's website. Simply go to www.livoniaptsacouncil.org and look under the PEP section.

Let's watch those PEP scores grow in 2021!

Sara Bennett and Melissa Kachaturoff

Livonia PTSA Council - PEP Co-Chairs

HOW MANY UNITS CAN WE GET TO ENTER THE LATEST MI PTA CHALLENGE?

Hello, Michigan PTA Membership Chairpersons and Vice Presidents!

DOES YOUR MICHIGAN PTA/PTSA UNIT WANT THE CHANCE TO WIN $250?

The MICHIGAN PTA STRIDER MEMBERSHIP CHALLENGE is HERE!

CRITERIA: Your Local Unit must have 75% of its total membership from July 1, 2019 - June 30, 2020, for entry.

The FIRM DEADLINE for this opportunity is MONDAY, JANUARY 25, 2021.

Complete the link below for your chance to win the $250 Grand Prize!

Michigan PTA STRIDER Membership Challenge

Questions?

Contact, Brian L. Johnson, Michigan PTA Vice President for Membership

membershipvp@michiganpta.org

The Michigan PTA Board of Directors is pleased to announce that Tracey Troy has been appointed as their President-Elect. Tracey Troy lives in DeWitt and she and Michael have been married 25 years, relocating to Michigan from the State of Washington in 2017. They have two children in 7th and 10th grade. Tracey works as a Project Manager for Dart Container. Tracey has over 10 years of experience and began her path to President-Elect through various positions at the local PTA level with leadership roles in local PTAs in both Washington and Michigan including President, Vice President, as well as Secretary. She has also served as Council Secretary (WA) and various committee roles including membership and family engagement. Most recently she served as Vice President of Outreach & Support for Michigan PTA as well as co-chair for Michigan PTA Convention 2020. Tracey sees the greatest successes in PTA when the actions are focused on the mission. “Our opportunity to impact a school community goes beyond writing a check for grants and supplies, some our greatest gifts to students include activities that enhance engagement and improve mental health. We should never lose site of the importance of the non-monetary impact” she says. As a State PTA Leader Tracey plans to provide additional leader resources to support Michigan leaders so they can provide more opportunities for Michigan school communities.

Join us for National PTA's 2021 Virtual Legislative Conference #PTALegCon, to be held March 9-11. Grow your advocacy skills through diverse workshops, raise your voice on Capitol Hill through virtual meetings with your members of Congress and learn from fellow advocates through PTA advocacy success stories.

Register today at PTA.org/LegCon

Please note that these dates and times could be subject to change due to COVID - 19 regulations. We will inform all units of any updates or changes as soon as possible.

2021

*Canceled - Chili Cook Off

*TBD - Reflections Celebration | TBD | TBD

2/10 - Founder's Day

*2/10 - LPTSA Council EB Meeting | 6:00 pm - 7:00 pm | BOE

3/17 - LPTSA Council EB Meeting | 6:00 pm - 7:00 pm | BOE

TBD - Council Workshop

4/21 - LPTSA Council EB Meeting | 6:00 pm - 7:00 pm | BOE

4/21 - LPTSA Council Gen. Membership Meeting (Elections) | 7:00 pm - 8:00 pm | Unit members attend virtually

TBD - YMAD Celebration

5/19 - Officer Training | 6:00 pm - 8:00 pm | TBD

6/16 - LPTSA Council EB Meeting | 6:00 pm - 7:00 pm | TBD

TBD - Audit Party | 6:00 pm - 8:00 pm | TBD

8/7 - 8/8 - Michigan PTA 103rd Annual Convention | Henry Ford College

http://pta.org/home/family-resources/coronavirus-information

http://commonsensemedia.org/resources-for-families-during-the-coronavirus-pandemic

http://cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/community/schools-childcare/index.html

http://pbs.org/parents/coronavirus-resources-for-parents